Daljit Singh Chawdhary Takes Additional Charge as BSF DG Amid Security Concerns

Daljit Singh Chawdhary, SSB Director General, has been given additional charge of the Border Security Force. This follows the premature repatriation of Nitin Agrawal. The change comes amid increased terror attacks in the Jammu region. The government's Appointments Committee of the Cabinet issued the order.

Daljit Singh Chawdhary, the Director General (DG) of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), has taken on additional responsibility as the DG of the Border Security Force (BSF) following the premature repatriation of Nitin Agrawal, announced a government order on Saturday.

Nitin Agrawal, a senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer from the 1989 batch and assigned to the Kerala cadre, was removed from his position as BSF DG on Friday by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), which is headed by the prime minister.

The Union home ministry's order specified that Chawdhary, a 1990-batch IPS officer from the Uttar Pradesh cadre, will hold the additional post of BSF DG until a regular replacement is appointed or until further orders are issued, whichever is sooner. Chawdhary's current role is overseeing the SSB, the force responsible for guarding India’s borders with Nepal and Bhutan.

On Friday, the ACC also ordered the premature and immediate repatriation of Agrawal's deputy, Yogesh Bahadur Khurania, Special DG (west), back to his parent cadre in Odisha. The government's decision to remove these key BSF officers occurs as the Jammu region along the India-Pakistan international border experiences a surge in terror attacks, resulting in the casualties of numerous army and security personnel as well as civilians.

The BSF is tasked with guarding India's borders with Pakistan to the west and Bangladesh to the east.